Sri Lankan AI News Summary

SRI LANKA DAILY NEWS DIGEST — Friday, August 28, 2026 CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM The fight over the proposed Twenty-Second Amendment sharpened yesterday. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka reiterated its opposition to the amendment, citing threats to judicial independence and to the rights and interests of the public, while calling for scrutiny of the Judiciary to be conducted responsibly. Hours later, National People's Power MP Lakshman Nipuna Arachchi filed an intervenient petition in the Supreme Court seeking dismissal of the Special Determination petition lodged against the amendment by two BASL office-bearers. The court's handling of the competing petitions will now shape the amendment's path. HIMALAYAN DISASTER Nearly 1,500 people, including almost 800 foreigners, are missing across Nepal and China's Tibet after a wall of mud and rock collapsed into a Himalayan river, sending flash floods through towns and valleys. The Nepal Tourism Board, in its latest update, put the figure at 644 currently reported missing — 127 Nepalese nationals and 517 foreigners from 32 countries — and confirmed that no Sri Lankans are among them. CRICKET Sonal Dinusha carried Sri Lanka to a remarkable draw in the second Test against India at the SSC, scoring his third century in four innings and anchoring stubborn lower-order resistance through a punishing fifth day. Having enforced the follow-on, India were made to bowl 243.4 overs across back-to-back innings. BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla praised Dinusha's consistency through the series, calling him a potential great of Test cricket and saying he "looks like Tendulkar". CRIME AND ROAD SAFETY Three people, including a 10-day-old infant, were killed this morning when a jeep and a three-wheeler collided at Gonamariyawa on the Kebithigollewa–Medawachchiya main road. Separately, police in Matara arrested a married couple allegedly involved in drug trafficking after a raid on a beauty salon uncovered heroin and 'Ice' with a street value of Rs. 70 million. PRESIDENT IN KANDY President Anura Kumara Dissanayake paid homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic at the Sri Dalada Maligawa yesterday afternoon, during his visit to Kandy for the annual Esala Perahera celebrations. ENVIRONMENT AND WEATHER The Central Environmental Authority has found pollution in Nuwara Eliya's Gregory Lake at levels that could pose a serious risk to human health if the water is consumed. In the same district, Nuwara Eliya recorded the country's lowest minimum temperature at 14.9°C, while Jaffna, Mannar and Polonnaruwa shared the highest minimum at 27°C, according to the Department of Meteorology. WORLD SPORT Uefa is pursuing criminal legal proceedings against Fifa president Gianni Infantino over the now-abandoned plan to sell stakes in the World Cup and other Fifa competitions to private investors.